Been a Tablo user for a few weeks. Have the 4 tuner 4th gen box.
I have 4 Samsung TVs in the home and that is the preferred viewing platform.
I am very frustrated with the Samsung TV app. It is very buggy. Guide navigation and DVR playback is weak and unstable.
I am willing to invest in some sort of dongle to improve the user experience (ie host a different Tablo app on the dongle OS) but don’t feel like buying 10 different ones before finding the right one.
I have tried a Google Chromecast with Google TV and it works better than the Samsung built in Tablo app but it has severe problems navigating the guide (app crashes).
I have so far struck out with the Samsung app and the Google TV app on a chromecast.
Has anyone had a good experience with a different dongle? Does it give nice DVR and guide navigation?
I heard the ONN device might be better but would rather hear from others before I jump into another platform.
Its a shame really. A great product concept held back by immature client software.
Although we bought and transitioned to a FireStick Max when the Roku issues were occurring in late 2024 and early 2025, we prefer the newest Roku Ultra and it’s navigation and settings over the newest FireStick Max.
You are going to get a lot of opinions, but I personally prefer the Roku platform. It is simple, uncluttered, and it works reliably. Yes, there have been some problems in the past that prompted me to try some others, but as soon as they were fixed I went back to Roku.
The ONN device has a good reputation for stability, but I don’t like the interface. It is a budget device and behaves like it. Also, and this drives me nuts, IT HAS NO PLAY/PAUSE BUTTON. For what should be the most basic function it can take multiple clumsy clicks to pause and restart a program.
One more thing, if you want to take advantage of the stability of an Ethernet connection, the Roku Ultra is one of the few stand alone streaming devices that has an Ethernet port. The more basic Roku models are also very good, but do not support Ethernet.
I have 2 newer Sony Bravia TVs with Google TV, and 2 older TVs with FireTV Max sticks. Both ecosystems are basically Android. Both are relatively stable with the Tablo app, but not perfect. Also, I have all my devices, including the FireTV sticks, hard wired with ethernet.
My best (new) Sony Bravia actually has a USB 3.0 port that I put a 1Gbit ethernet adapter cable in. That TV’s wired internet speed tests at 550Mbps. Works great for Sony’s proprietary Bravia streaming service which provides true 4k, HDR, and Atmos ss titles in excess of 100Mbit bandwidth. Stunning picture and sound quality on the OLED panel and Denon ss system.
But to the original question, for me Tablo is reasonably stable on both Google TV and FireTV. I have no experience with Tablo on other smarttv platforms.
I am an unabashed fan of Apple TV - smoothest performance due to faster hardware, best privacy, and fewest ads in the interface. However, I can well understand your not wanting to pay for four of those, so my budget recommendation is Roku. You can disable much but not all of the home screen ads there.
I have both the Roku and an ONN google TV device. I prefer the Roku interface. The software on both is buggy, this company just doesn’t know how to do a uniformed interface and it shows. Why do I have both? Because sometimes the Roku fails and the ONN seems to not have the same failure (at least at the same time). As I said in another thread, the old gen Tablos may not of been ‘pretty’, but they worked most of the time. Gen 4 is junk, or at least the software is. And for those who don’t like that the ONN doesn’t have a dedicated play/pause button… it’s built that way. Google designed it so that when you are watching something (like Youtube or most other apps) and you hit the select button in the middle of the circle it is supposed to pause until you hit it again. Tablo didn’t take this into account, so the control interface pops up and you have to navigate down to the play/pause button on screen. Just another example of poor implementation on Tablo’s part.
I prefer the onn box. I have that and three different Rokus. While the Roku is more polished with a more sophisticated looking interface, the remote controls are junk. They eat batteries and respond more slowly to clicks. The onn box is inexpensive and looks that way, but I actually prefer the remote after getting used to both. It also plays better with the Tablo. The lack of a pause button is a shame, but it’s not that big of an issue, particularly outside of its use with Tablo. Oh, and although irrelevant to this discussion, the onn box is much nicer with Philo too. Bottom line: it’s all a matter of personal preference. There are no outright winners.
Dumped the rechargeable remotes as junk and use the simple roku voice remote. I have lots of rechargeable batteries for my electronics. Plus spare roku remotes from my 4660’s .
Oh, ya. Forgot about the backlit remote. Nice feature.
We’ve donated 3-4 older but intact and working Roku devices and remotes over the years to the local mission. We like our new, rechargeable, backlit, and voice-activated remote and find it useful. It also has a ‘find me’ feature but we haven’t needed it.
Best bet is to wait for this $99 unit to go on sale. The latest Ultra device also has Wifi6 compatibility and on-board Ethernet.
I had a Roku puck for years, where I replaced the remote batteries every couple years whether they were down or not. Same goes for the TV, DVD player, soundbar remotes.
Then got a 4K stick in '23, and the batteries would not last a month.
I complained to Roku and they sent me a new remote, which did the same thing. They suggested I just use the phone app and not the remote. Googled all over and found other people having the same battery life problem, but no explanation from anyone.
My current Ultra has the rechargeable battery remote, which I plug in overnight now and then, I am not keeping track of how fast it goes down.
It is nice that the Ultra has an ethernet port, but hooking it up that way seemed to offer no advantage, so I use it wireless.
yeah, like not having to switch the interlacing option on or off depending on what you’re watching. That switch doesn’t exist on the other platforms and isn’t necessary.
Regarding the Ethernet vs Wifi on the Roku - connecting via Wifi6 (802.11ax) to my router the wifi speed test clocks in at 400+ Mbps. This is faster than the 10/100Mbps the Roku Ethernet port offers, right? Maybe it’s better to use wifi in this case?
I guess for the best streaming device (client) experience, it boils down to features and its ability to maximize your network.
You don’t need much more than “bleep” speed for media. Which is why Roku hasn’t felt the need (yet) to jump to 1Gbit on the physical port. However, people “obtain” media through (cough) many different means and some of that has incredibly (overly) high bitrates associated with it. So, there has been pressure on Roku to support 1Gbit and I think it likely this will happen in the next iteration.
Regardless, based on limitation of the Tablo device (old or new, though “old” arguably, more efficient codec wise), the extra bandwidth isn’t the “main thing”, it’s the consistency and availability. WiFi’s performance can be more unpredictable in more cases than wired (in general).
The real issue with wifi is not so much the random “test speed”, but rather the bandwidth limits with 1) multiple devices connected and 2) all of your nearby neighbors adding to the RF noise floor right in the evening when everyone is streaming at the same time.
I have a business class wifi access point, and can do RF surveys with its control software. It’s unbelievable how much “noise” is there at certain times, and therefore how limited the available bandwidth can be at those times. I too can get test speeds well in excess of 100Mbps ethernet. But I still have experienced occasional reliability issues streaming over wifi. RF can be a total mess right in your own home at certain times, and can severely limit your wifi performance.
I’m not saying you can’t be successful streaming with wifi. Lot’s of folks do it every day. I’m just saying IF you are having issues it COULD be because of wifi bandwidth limitations. Very much depends on your situation.
Edit
A simple way to get an idea of how much RF traffic there is in your home is to look at the wifi settings on your cell phone. If you see multiple “available networks” besides yours, your neighbors are limiting your wifi bandwidth. I have seen as many as 10 or so on my phone. Lot’s of bandwidth competition!
Actually it’s better to run a program like Acrylic Suite on your laptop. These sorts of apps scan the spectrum and tell you what SSIDs are transmitting in which part of the band. It also shows signal strength (SS). SS will tell you which SSIDs are interferers, and which are so low a signal that there is no need to bother with.
Thanks to all for the suggestions. I ordered a ROKU Ultra that arrives tomorrow. Sadly my TV dongle is now as expensive as my OTA DVR solution.
I’ll connect the ROKU with the ethernet drop at my TV. I always try to connect stationary devices via ethernet unless it isn’t practical. As for the other 3 Samsung TVs, I’ll wait it out to see if a better client is coming for Samsung, or if a cheaper dongle arrives.
I came across some 1 year old posts of the preannouncement for the Samsung TV native Tablo app. Its comical the contrast between the happy words in the announcement and how poor an app it truly is. Maybe less marketing and more product development.